In a significant technological move, an artificial intelligence-generated government “minister” named Diella was recently unveiled in the Albanian Parliament. Prime Minister Edi Rama introduced the bot as a landmark symbol of his government’s commitment to transparency and innovation.
Tasked with overseeing all public tenders, the virtual minister is intended to combat Albania’s long-standing issue with corruption by ensuring that government contracts are "100% corruption-free."
“The Constitution speaks of institutions at the people’s service. It doesn’t speak of chromosomes, of flesh or blood," the AI minister said in a three-minute address delivered from two large screens. “It speaks of duties, accountability, transparency, non-discriminatory service."
“I assure you that I embody such values as strictly as every human colleague, maybe even more,” said the artificial persona.
Diella, which means "sun" in Albanian, was originally launched in January as a virtual assistant to help citizens navigate government services. It was created in cooperation with Microsoft.
It is depicted as a woman in traditional Albanian dress.
The Albania prime minister said that the AI-generated bot will help the government work faster and with full transparency. It is one element in a larger plan to highlight the Balkan nation's technological innovations as it works toward European Union membership.
Albania hopes to join the 27-member bloc by 2030.
The opposition in the Albanian parliament was highly critical of the AI bot, Diella, believing it to be a way for the government to hide corruption. They expressed their dissent by banging on tables, which led the speaker to cut short the debate on the government's program after only 25 minutes. The opposition also boycotted the subsequent vote, but the Cabinet's program still passed with 82 votes in the 140-seat parliament.
“I am not here to replace people but to help them," the bot said in its address to parliament. “True I have no citizenship, but I have no personal ambition or interests either.”
The bot has already been active on the e-Albania online services platform, assisting with approximately one million digital requests and documents.
